How can chatbots learn from existing VUI design? What makes these new interfaces different, and how are they similar? Where do the Alexas and Siris come into the mix? We’ll discuss text-based vs. voice-based conversational user interfaces, and the landscape of Conversational User Interfaces, now and into the future.

Crispin Reedy is a Voice User Experience designer and usability professional with over 10 years of front-line design, speech usability, and tuning experience across a variety of industries, including financial, telecommunications, health care and transportation. She is interested helping teams make excellent design decisions and how we can best leverage real-world data to achieve those goals. She has previously spoken at SpeechTEK, UXPA International, Dallas Tech Fest, Dallas Startup Week and Big Design Conference, and is currently serving as President of AVIxD.

Brown Bags are back and our first presenter is none other than Jonathan Bloom!

Please join us on May 16th at 12:00 EDT when our Brown Bag Session will be presented by
Jonathan Bloom, Voice User Interface Designer at Jibo, Inc.

Conversational Turn-Taking & Social Robotics

Calling a company and dealing with a system-initiated IVR is the extent of most people’s experience interacting with a spoken dialogue system. This will change with social robots. What is the etiquette when conversing with a robot? Who talks when? What are the boundaries of acceptable things to say? With each evolutionary step forward, the rules of turn-taking shift. We focus on the fascinating challenges faced by the Jibo design team while creating the foundations for a human-robot conversation.

Mark your calendars! The Association for Voice Interaction Design will once again hold its 2017 annual members meeting. This is your opportunity to find out how you can get involved! What do YOU want in a professional organization? Do you have an idea for a committee or a project? Would you like to present at a brown bag or give us a paper? We need your voice in the conversation!

If you’re coming to SpeechTEK in-person, on Monday, grab your lunch and head over to the Madison room.****

Or, you can attend virtually! This year we’ll be streaming live with Periscope again. Download the app on your cell phone now from the App Store or Google Play to get ready, and follow us on Twitter @avixd.

The AVIxD organization seeks to connect folks in the voice interaction design industry. Our goal is to provide a forum for this community to find and share professional resources, while promoting awareness of the VUI field and advocating for good design practices. Not a member yet? No problem. Visit AVIxD.org ahead of time to join – or just show up to learn more.

Update: This event has been postponed. We will be discussing at the annual meeting.

Call for Participation | AVIxD Workshop 2017

Design Guidelines for Conversational User Interfaces

Proposals Due March 29, 2017

Sunday, 23 April 2017 | Afternoon | Just prior to SpeechTEK 2017

Washington, D.C.

The Association for Voice Interaction Design is seeking proposals for the 2017 workshop on voice interaction design, “Design Guidelines for Conversational User Interfaces.” The AVIxD workshop is a hands-on session in which voice interaction design practitioners come together to debate a topic of interest to our community. The workshop is an opportunity to meet with your peers and delve deeply into a single issue. Visit us online at avixd.org to see white papers from previous workshops and to learn how you can be part of AVIxD.

This year’s workshop will build on the results of the 2016 workshop, in which we defined a set of issues and questions around conversational user interfaces (AVIxD Workshop 2016 Draft). This year, our goal is to begin to address these questions and modify and/or amend the AVIxD Design Guidelines (http://videsign.wikispaces.com/). To be considered for the workshop, individuals must submit a position paper of approximately 250 words addressing an issue related to design guidelines for conversational user interfaces. We encourage you to share your hands-on experiences and support your position with available evidence. Potential topics include:

A response to one of the specific issues raised in the 2016 workshop

A clarification or elaboration on one of the issues

Introduction of a relevant issue we failed to include

An argument against one or more of the topics

The workshop is free for invited participants who are active AVIxD members; non-members will be charged $55, and the fee will cover AVIxD annual membership dues as well.

Please submit your paper via email no later than March 29, 2017 to avixdworkshop@gmail.com. Letters of acceptance and details about meeting time and location will be sent out shortly thereafter.

We look forward to seeing you in D.C.! Send questions, comments, or complaints to avixdworkshop@gmail.com or to any of the workshop committee.